Krusher_r

HeavyHemi

lb

I have a non-SC EVGA GTX 580 card.  Can I flash it with the SC BIOS?  Are the SC and non-SC cards identical hardware-wise, or does the SC version have better chips?

They are identical hardware wise. The SC cards are binned to operate at the higher clocks.
Yes it's possible to force flash the card with a BIOS that doesn't belong to it.

Does anyone know what EVGA's official policy is on doing this?  i.e. is the lifetime warranty coverage affected in any way if I should need to return it for service someday?

I know you can use EVGA Precision to overclock; I'm already a bit faster than an SC card now with no voltage boost.  I figure if I'm going to reflash the BIOS, I might as well give myself a small upgrade for those situations where Precision won't work (in Linux for example.)

Thanks!

The policy is as long as you return (for an RMA) the card with the original BIOS (or an EVGA supplied BIOS) your warranty is intact. If not, then it's up to EVGA. That's why it's imperative you back up the original BIOS, and have a spare PCIe card in case you need to reflash a card that won't display or fails for some reason. Flashing is fairly safe when using a known BIOS from a reputable source. You're probably better off, modifying your own BIOS. There are tools out there than make it almost a no brainer as long as you ONLY change specific settings and leave all the others alone.
edit added 'EVGA supplied BIOS'

Krusher_r

What if the card you've reflashed has a power component fail and it won't power up for you to reflash it?  Seeing several burned out cards on the Internet, it's entirely possible.

Custom BIOSs have the potential to cause a problem, i.e. you could remove the power protection or do other things to cause damage.  So my guess is that will not be covered.  But it would be nice to have an official word from EVGA on using one of their alternate BIOSs.  Until then, I'll keep using Precision.

If you've flashed your own custom BIOS then you might have an issue IF, for whatever reason, you cannot restore the factory BIOS or a BIOS provided by EVGA. It would be up to EVGA whether or not they honor the warranty. Using EVGA's fan unlocker BIOS won't affect your warranty if it fails during a flash or if it fails while using it. Lastly if you can't afford to replace your card then flashing using a custom BIOS is probably not your best option. 

Krusher_r

Ya, that was pretty much my assumption also, but there's a lot of grey area.  Maybe JacobF or someone similar here can comment at least on the EVGA BIOSes...

It's been discussed endlessly and commented on by Jacob numerous times. There is no gray area on the EVGA provided BIOS. They do not affect your warranty. Why would EVGA provided a BIOS that if you used would invalidate your warranty? The same logic applies to EVGA BIOS updates to motherboards. Those don't affect your warranty either.

Krusher_r

I'm speaking of using a standard 580 with an SC BIOS.  Or what about if someone watercools their 580 and puts on the FTW BIOS.  And then their card dies.  Just upgrading the BIOS with a new fan setting, well we know that's been approved or else they would not tell us to do it right?  :D

I covered that. If it isn't an EVGA BIOS intended for your model of GPU then you may have a warranty issue if you can't flash it back. That would be up to EVGA. The SC and FTW BIOS are not the original or one issued by EVGA for a vanilla card right? Perhaps you should have said SC OR FTW BIOS instead of 'alternate' because those are not an 'alternate' BIOS for a vanilla 580 while the fan unlocker BIOS is. Later.

Krusher_r

Ah, that's the confusion then.

I looked even farther back and found post #136 from ty_ger07.  He said that it's not possible to use EVGA's update tool because it will simply say that no compatible hardware was found.  So it has to be done with NvFlash...but then nobody asked if this was OK with EVGA.  "...may have a warranty issue" is not a good thing on a $500 card so that's why I am asking EVGA here.  I'm going with the hunch for now that you "will have a warranty issue" unless we hear otherwise.

 

Correct, you can't use Evga's flash utility to flash a different model GPU.  It's pretty simple: using a BIOS that is not stock or intended for your GPU can void your warranty if you can't reflash it and need to RMA. The only reason why I do not say *will* void your warranty is that EVGA has made a few exceptions in the past and it would be up to their discretion to take mercy on your soul in each individual case. Personally I wouldn't count on it and that is why I said 'if you can't afford to replace your card then flashing using a custom BIOS is probably not your best option.'  Anyway Jacob may chime in but I believe that is a accurate assessent of the warranty issues and the potential pitfalls of flashing a 'custom' BIOS.

EVGA_JacobF

3GB fan unlocker posted.

Stupid question, now that the cards have been out for a while will my new step up card come with the new bios installed already or will I need install it on my new 580's as well? I know my 570's did not have the update and I left mine stock and they never got above 65 on 80%.  Do I just cross my fingers? Or can I request my flash before being shipped out? Thanks!

I have a question for a friend can this unlocker be use for the 480GTX?

HeavyHemi

exilelrrp

I have a question for a friend can this unlocker be use for the 480GTX?

No. It's specific to GPU model.

Thanx...But my friend went ahead & use it....And now he can control the fan speed to his 480GTX

HeavyHemi

exilelrrp

HeavyHemi

exilelrrp

I have a question for a friend can this unlocker be use for the 480GTX?

No. It's specific to GPU model.

Thanx...But my friend went ahead & use it....And now he can control the fan speed to his 480GTX

He could control the fan speed before.  And it's still specific to GPU model. Oh well.

From my understanding your sayin' that with the EVGA Precision he was able to control the fan?...without the
unlocker?....l0l...He had nothing for his VC I told him about EVGA Precision & then the unlocker is just for the 580GTX...
he still went with it...Oh well @ least its workin' for him with the unlocker...Thanx for your help!

it's really needed for me
thank you

nvm

EVGA_JacobF

EVGA GTX 580 Fan Unlocker v1.1 has been released, here are the changes:

• New in v1.1 - Improved Compatibility
• Fanspeed can be reduced to 30% in EVGA Precision
• Fanspeed can be increased to 100% in EVGA Precision

---

 
Make sure to download the following files in Internet Explorer or Firefox only:

Installation

• Download the correct .zip file below for your graphics card:

      v1.1  015-P3-1580-XX - EVGA GeForce GTX 580
     v1.1  015-P3-1582/1583-XX - EVGA GeForce GTX 580 Superclocked
      v1.1  03G-P3-1584-XX - EVGA GeForce GTX 580 3072MB

• Extract the files to a location on disk.
• Make sure no programs are running in the background, and double click update.exe.
• Press "Y" to begin the update.
• DO NOT TURN OFF POWER OR RESET DURING THE FLASH PROCESS!
• After update, restart PC.
• Reinstall the latest NVIDIA graphics drivers after bootup.

Jacob, is there are separate release for model 015-P3-1587, the GTX580 DS SC?  Thanks in advance!

mit78

i have a gtx 580 superclocked evga ,and not work for me this patch,please help

This one ?

AnnoyingIB

I have a Gigabyte GTX 580 (refenence model) because the EVGA GTX 580 wasn't in stock. But now I bought an EVGA GTX 580 and running them in SLI. So I'm wondering if this BIOS works on the Gigabyte card too?

No, it won't flash your Gigabyte card as it won't recognize your card as being the model the flash is intended for.